Booster club raffling handgun in support of Blacksburg High sparks controversy

Tuesday

Feb 19, 2013 at 11:41 AM

A gun raffle sponsored by the Blacksburg High School athletic booster club has been called off.

BY LEE G. HEALYlee.healy@shj.com

A gun raffle sponsored by the Blacksburg High School athletic booster club has been called off.After a meeting between school and club officials Tuesday evening, Blacksburg High Principal Craig Bramlett said the club will not move forward with the raffle. He said the booster club will now decide how to handle money already raised.“The intentions were the best in the world. They were doing it for the kids,” Bramlett said. “...It just sends the wrong message for what we're trying to do.”For about a week, the Blacksburg Athletic Booster Club has been selling tickets for the raffle, promising the winner a certificate redeemable for a Sig Sauer P938.Bramlett said school and club officials met about the controversial raffle Tuesday afternoon and decided not to move forward.“The school district does not condone any types of raffle involving guns or anything of that nature,” Bramlett said. “If I had known about it, we would have said no.”No decision has been reached on what to do with the money already raised, Bramlett said.Club President Kevin Tessner said the fundraiser was organized to support student-athletes, not cause controversy. He said Tuesday that tickets are no longer being sold.“I thought if we raffled off an assault rifle it might (cause controversy), but I never thought a concealed weapons-type gun would cause any controversy,” Tessner said.Tessner pointed out that the raffle was organized so the winner would have to pass a proper background check through a local gun shop to redeem the certificate. Also, he said tickets were not sold to anyone younger than 21.The booster club, organized earlier this school year to support school athletics programs, is run by parents and volunteers.